Electronic Shield Makes Pub a Safe Haven from Mobile Phones

A pub in Hove on the south coast of England has come up with a novel way to differentiate itself from the local competition -- erecting a metal cage around it to block phone signals and make it a phone-free space. Like the 1970s.

The Gin Tub now comes with a fully functional Faraday cage within its walls and ceilings to stop people trawling the toilets for Pokemon among other things, with the pub instead installing traditional wired phones to let groups from each table phone each other to request a borrow of crisps or to say that one person likes the look of another person and can they be sent over.

Manager Steve Tyler said: "If the person you are with goes to the bathroom, the problem with mobiles is they insulate you from talking to other people. I want you to enjoy the experience of going out," with Tyler believing his anti-signal cage is perfectly legal as it blocks transmissions without creating any signals of its own, unlike illegal signal jammers. [BBC]